June 9, 2011
To view pictures set to music of the E-Fair, click here
Alexander’s Public School held its Entrepreneurial Fair (E-Fair) on Friday May 20. Grade 8 students were challenged to invent a product or service and develop a plan to produce, market and sell their idea. Students sold their product or service at a ‘storefront’ in the Burlington school’s gym to illustrate how it would best meet the needs of its consumer.
To make the event more fun and as realistic as possible, teams and/or individual students were judged by the school’s "Dragons Den" – or potential investors made up of teachers – imitating the CBC television show of the same name. Some of the businesses on display centered around ice cream, popcorn, jewelry, refreshing drinks, sushi and cotton candy, just to name a few.
The E-Fair built upon the curriculum about real-world business. As part of the Grade 8 geography curriculum, students are exploring economics through personal business. Over several weeks, students worked to develop their business plans, do market research, explore competition, test product/service feasibility and prepare financial statements that best reflect various cost, pricing, profit and needs from potential investors.
Also, students purchased some of the products and services during E-Fair. Students had to pay back mom and dad – the ‘bank’ – for any money they might have borrowed to create their product. Some students who made a profit gave a portion of their earnings to a charity of their choice.
“The E-Fair was a big success and just keeps getting bigger and better every year,” says teacher Wendy Wright-Pettersen.